DMT

CITIES OF ORIGIN: Valencia, Inland Empire and Orange County.

KINDRED SPIRITS: “We each have our own different styles of influences, which as a collective brings a wide spectrum to the table within our writing. Bands like Slipknot, Pantera, Soulfly, Lamb of God and Deftones lay a heavy foundation within us, while other bands as Born of Osiris, Winds of Plague and Killswitch Engage inspire us to keep our guitar riffs and vocal hooks at a cutting edge level. Tool is also inspirational to us, as far as being able to tie in the metal spectrum with the whole spiritual aspect, as we incorporate topics that force us to look within ourselves, and what it means to be a human spirit.”

RECENT RELEASES: A Shift of Ages E.P. (2011).

FREQUENTS: The Vibe (Riverside), The Fox Theatre (Pomona) and The Pomona Fairplex (Pomona).

If your first thought when hearing a heavy metal band is that they must be spreading a message of death and destruction, then get to know the local band DMT and change your misconception. DMT is certainly not just another black wearing, instrument bashing, screaming group of guys . . . it is also the acronym for a chemical that is secreted by your pineal gland when you’re born, when you die and when you dream at night—and when ingested, this drug is known to cause vivid hallucinations into the metaphysical world. Although the heaviness and insane double bass of this band’s music reminds us of some of the greatest metal bands of all time, songs like “American Evolution” and “Beneath the Surface” by DMT will guide you toward your spiritual side and awaken the vessel to your consciousness. These guys urge you to not be driven by ego or structured by fear—instead allow the ethereal journey of life encompass you. Check them out live and you’re in for a sacred experience between their projected visual animations that match DMT-induced visions, sick lighting and smoke—it will have you wondering if you’re actually hallucinating from this natural psychedelic.

What is the story behind the band name DMT?

DMT is the acronym for Dimethyltryptamine, which is [considered] by many to be the spirit molecule. It’s a chemical our body makes and is believed to be the source of why we dream, as current studies are revealing that our pineal gland may produce this powerful chemical as we sleep, opening portals to the dreamland at night. If we really think about it, dreams are hallucinations, as we all have had dreams which seemed so vivid it defied all logic and time. We were inspired by a book called DMT: The Spirit Molecule by Dr. Rick Strassman, which is about his five year clinical study on Dimethyltryptamine, describing the life changing mystical experiences reported by his research patients. We as DMT are raising awareness through our music, to the existence of these altered states of consciousness that can change who you are and may empower us to evolve, as we come face to face with the true mysteries of the universe.

Tell us about your song writing process.

It’s a collective effort from beginning to end, as we push each other to evolve as musicians. We begin with a guitar or drum pattern and build and expand upon that initial spark of inspiration, while lyrically we spend a lot of time perfecting the flow of our melodies with the power of language. For as they say, if the truth can be said as to be understood, it will be believed!

Is there anything else you’d like us to know?

As artists, we are chosen by society to expand the limits of our minds and consciousness, to discover what lies beyond the paradox of life. As the late great Terence McKenna once said, “But that art’s task is to save the soul of mankind. And that anything less is a dithering while Rome burns. Because if the artists, who are self-selected for being able to journey into the other… if the artists cannot find the way, then the way cannot be found.”